Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (Nintendo DS)

Sensibly the game ditches the intrusive use of the touch screen seen in Dawn of Sorrow, instead choosing to focus on making the two characters as different as possible with Johnny concentrating on traditional Castlevania melee weapons and Charlotte learning a range of different offensive and defensive magic. As usual in a Castlevania game both characters gain experience as they defeat enemies, slowly increasing your stats like a role-playing game. The 2D graphics are as exquisitely detailed as ever but the level design is perhaps a little more pedestrian than normal. Thankfully the bizarre range of enemies makes up for this to a degree, with some particularly ingenious bosses. The only real disappointment is that the much vaunted co-op mode is only for a few special levels and not the whole game. Even so, it's still an improvement on the last game and the best new Castlevania since Symphony of the Night on the PSOne.
HARRISON DENT